The hosts, who beat TSV 1860 Munich 2-1 last time out, started brightly at the Voith-Arena, but weren't able to find the breakthrough their neat build-up play deserved. Instead, it was KSC who took the lead when Rouwen Hennings capitalised on a defensive error to score his seventh goal of the season.

Heidenheim's Andreas Voglsammer and Adriano Grimaldi both struck the woodwork in the second half, but Karlsruhe survived the onslaught to move into second place ahead of the remaining Matchday 21 fixtures in Germany's second tier.